Earthlings had a surprise close shave this week A giant asteroid 2018 GE3 flew past earth at a distance of 192,000 kilometers. NASA estimated that the asteroid measures 48 to 110 meters wide. It made its closest approach to Earth at around 0641 GMT on April 15. Whizzing by at about half the average distance between Earth and the moon. The asteroid 2018 GE3 was first spotted on April 14 by astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey, a NASA programme based at the University of Arizona in the US